Oblong windows with pivoting glazing cut through the striking white walls of this minimal five-storey office block in Japan's Aichi Prefecture, designed by local architects Yoshihiro Kato Atelier.

The concrete building, named Tetote Note, is located on a tight 100-square-metre site in the city of Nagoya and provides collaborative workspaces for designers and their clients.
"In Japanese, 'tetote' literally means hand-in-hand," studio founder Yoshihiro Kato told Dezeen. "I wanted Tenote Tote to be the building where designers, clients, contractors, and all the people involved, hold hands with each other and work together with synergy."

The building is finished in a white photocatalytic paint designed to withstand the effects of weathering, while complementing the minimal interior finishes. The pared-back interiors are intended to draw focus to the exposed board-marked concrete walls, and to accentuate the irregularly placed oblong windows and their pivoting glazing.

"Attached just at the surface of the outer wall, these windows give the impression of flatness viewed from the outside, while the thickness of the walls further emphasises the oblong shape, capturing more random shadows and light," said Kato.
The austere rooms within provide a variety of workspaces, from a communal studio to a meeting room enclosed by a curving glass wall.

A secluded workspace on the fourth floor also has access to a generously sized roof terrace overlooki...